It all came down to the Jets safety making a play to win the game.
No, not star Jamal Adams, who is usually the one providing the Jets with game-deciding plays. This time, it was his partner in the secondary, Marcus Maye, who saved the day in the Jets’ 16-10 win over the Steelers on Sunday.
Devlin “Duck” Hodges had the Steelers driving into New York territory with under a minute to play while trailing 16-10. On third-and-7, he found James Washington one-on-one with Maye down the middle of the field. Washington beat Maye to the ball and got two hands on it, but Maye, already in the air, twisted his body and extended his left arm to break up the pass in the end zone. The Steelers turned it over on downs the next play, and the Jets walked away with a win.
Marcus Maye breaks up a pass intended for Steelers wide receiver James Washington.AP“It’s probably one of my top plays, for sure,” Maye said. “Just the situation of the game. We knew it was going to come down to us in the secondary. We knew they had to take a shot in order to get into scoring range. We were prepared for the moment.”
Maye and the Jets’ secondary gave Hodges problems all afternoon before the game-winning breakup. Early in the second quarter, trailing 10-0, Hodges had the Steelers driving deep in Jets territory. Hodges gave Maye his first test of the day with a pass to Jaylen Samuels in the back of the end zone. Maye leaped higher, and came down with the interception.
Hodges finished 11-for-17 for just 84 yards and two interceptions, good for a measly 37.0 passer rating. Hodges was benched in the second quarter for Mason Rudolph, but returned in the second half after Rudolph injured his shoulder.
“Marcus was phenomenal today,” Jets coach Adam Gase said. “There are two plays that I can think of now that were big. One of them probably helped us win the game, big-time.”
Maye has started all 15 games this year after injuries limited him to just six games last year. While Adams deservedly attracts much of the attention and praise on defense, Maye has quietly become the player the Jets envisioned when they drafted him in the second round of the 2017 NFL Draft.
“Man, [Maye] balled, bro. He balled,” Adams said. “I told him today, not even a pick, the best play he’s ever made that I’ve seen him make, was that last one where he ripped it out. That’s a phenomenal play. Marcus Maye doesn’t get a lot of credit, obviously, he’s very underrated. People don’t give him his respect, but he works his butt off each and every day.”
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